Draft Bill regulating minors’ access to social media: what companies need to prepare for

Unlike the text adopted by the Senate at first reading on March 31, 2026, which distinguished between strictly prohibited platforms and those accessible with parental consent, the text resulting from the Joint Committee now establishes a general prohibition on access to online social networking services for children under the age of fifteen. 

Only three categories of services are exempted: online encyclopedias, educational or scientific directories, and platforms for the development and sharing of free and open-source software or open-source educational digital projects. The applicable regime therefore no longer depends on the nature of the content disseminated or the recommendation systems used, but solely on the classification of the service and whether it falls within one of those exceptions.

For online platforms, the primary challenge would be to determine whether their service falls within the scope of the law or whether it can be classified under one of the three exceptions provided by the statute. 

In addition, they would need to integrate an age-verification mechanism that complies with the law. This requirement reflects a compliance logic that integrates safety by design.

In this article, the provisions of the legislative proposal are analyzed in order to unpack their potential implications for the stakeholders concerned.